


Nothing to fear but fear itself

by xantissa



Series: Power Imbalance [7]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Iruka sees things he really doesnt want to see, Kakashi has many issues and kind of an obsession with Uchiha, M/M, Naruto is scarily perceptive, Naruto wants that mess in all its fucked up glory, Sasuke doesn't know how to deal with that, Sasuke is a Mess, and scary, outside pov
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-12
Updated: 2020-04-12
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:28:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23615992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xantissa/pseuds/xantissa
Summary: Iruka had no idea why he kept stumbling onto Sasuke in compromising positions, or what kind of crime he must have committed in his previous life for fate to punish him like this.
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi/Uchiha Sasuke, Uchiha Sasuke/Uzumaki Naruto
Series: Power Imbalance [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/310380
Comments: 19
Kudos: 159





	Nothing to fear but fear itself

**Author's Note:**

> I am alive and writing very slowly. But writing!  
> Also, huge thanks for betaing this to: [Delphi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DelphiPsmith)!

The first time was with Kakashi.

Iruka crouched, frozen, behind the Lucky Star bar, hidden in the shadows behind the high stack of old supply crates and a line of dumpsters, hoping desperately nobody would notice him.

He had a legitimate reason to be where he was. He came there three times a week to feed the stray cats that lived nearby.

The cats knew the routine and were waiting for him, some of them even rubbing against him, letting him pet them. It wasn’t a secret that Iruka had a soft spot for stray animals. The bar owners knew he was doing it, and they never touched the bowls he left against the wall in the quietest corner of the little L-shaped blind alley.

When he heard voices coming, he wasn't too surprised. It wasn’t uncommon for some of the ninja who liked to hang out in the Lucky Star to come out for a scuffle, or something more intimate at times, though Iruka was usually lucky enough to escape with only marginal embarrassment from all parties involved.

When he recognized Kakashi’s voice, he was surprised but not alarmed. As far as he knew, the man didn’t like spending much time amongst other people, and he definitely wasn’t a regular at the bar. 

So Iruka didn’t think much of it, focused as he was on tempting the grey kitty closer. She looked like she was pregnant and Iruka wanted to make sure she got a bigger portion of the food he'd brought.

“You could put more effort into socializing, you know.” Kakashi’s voice was even closer now, and Iruka paused in his attempts to carefully entice the grey kitty while shooing the two younger males away.

“I was on my best behavior.” The low, dark voice was shockingly sensual, and also unmistakably recognizable.

Sasuke.

His one-time student, now a reinstated member of Konoha. No longer a boy but a young man, colder and more dangerous than anything Iruka could have imagined when he saw the withdrawn and obviously traumatized child for the first time. It was a shock to realize he had grown from that boy into this man. A man whose description in the Bingo Book included the recommendation ‘flee on sight’.

“You haven’t spoken more than ten words throughout the whole evening.” The two of them were coming closer to Iruka’s hiding spot.

“Paying attention, were you?” Iruka could see Sasuke now, as the man stepped into a more exposed part of the alley, the bright moonlight catching on nis pale skin.

“Sasuke…”

Iruka watched his former student’s profile, the way he tilted his chin up. There was something challenging, an unspoken provocation in how he was looking at the other man.

Kakashi too now ambled into sight, his tall, thin body relaxed. They were of the same height, Iruka realized, as he saw them beside one another. Sasuke was broader in the chest than Kakashi, and his strength and maturity struck Iruka afresh, just as seeing Naruto had, Naruto who was tall and muscular, a powerful man instead of the scrawny little child Iruka used to feed.

Sasuke’s eyes bled red slowly, the Sharingan a crimson stain in the darkness. “You were watching me,” he said slowly, eyes fixed on Kakashi. His body was very still, and his voice a low challenge.

Iruka, still unobserved, watched from the shadows, confused but filled with a sudden suspicion at the stillness between the two, the tension that filled the air.

“This is a bad idea,” Kakashi said, stepping closer.

Sasuke tilted his chin at him, his Sharingan still fully activated but his stance curiously lacking aggression. “So?”

The last thing Iruka expected was to see Kakashi reach up for his tilted headband and pull it off, exposing his transplanted eye, the Sharingan blazing there, always active. He wasn’t an Uchiha, he couldn’t control the bloodline limit. 

Iruka watched as the two sharingan met and held his breath, half afraid the two would fight although his instincts told him it wasn't violence that was brewing between them.

When Kakashi pushed Sasuke against the nearest wall, when Sasuke  _ let  _ him, Iruka could tell it wasn’t the first time. It couldn’t be. Not with the way Sasuke tilted his head back, offering his neck. Not with the way Kakashi grabbed him by the hips and pushed him up. Sasuke worked with him, wrapping his legs around his former teacher, his arms digging into Kakashi's shoulders to keep him steady.

There was something passive about Sasuke, in how he let himself be so roughly handled, in the way he shifted with Kakashi’s movements but didn’t try to take control. It struck Iruka as wrong somehow. It had been a long time since Sasuke was his student, but Iruka still remembered how stubborn and headstrong he was. After all the intervening years he didn't know much about Sasuke any more, but he had heard rumours and accounts from people who had fought him. He was said to be aggressive and cold, utterly focused on his vengeance and completely unapproachable. This passive submission to Kakashi, the way he let himself be touched now, struck a false chord in Iruka.

Something about this was wrong, but Iruka had no idea what. He did know, though, that no matter what was going on between Kakashi and Sasuke, getting in the middle of it was far too dangerous a thing to contemplate. Both were powerful fighters on their own, and while Sasuke was known for his volatility and propensity to violence, Kakashi, though much more controlled, wasn’t a shining example of sanity either. 

Kakashi made a sound then, low and rough, unmistakably sexual and Iruka blushed, edging deeper into the alley and further away from the two men. Some things, he really didn’t need to see.

***

The second time was with Naruto, and Iruka sorely regretted being privy to that moment. Somehow, watching Sasuke and Kakashi have casual sex was less disturbing than witnessing the naked emotion between Sasuke and Naruto.

He was in another blind alley, tucked between two old houses, separated from the street by a chain link fence. It was precisely its seclusion that made the grey kitty choose this as the place to give birth to her kittens. Iruka was trying to examine them and make sure that they were healthy. The mother trusted him enough she let him handle them without much protest. 

The fact that the alley was between the more distant training grounds and the village center was why he was unlucky enough to be an unwilling witness to the scene between Sasuke and Naruto.

Iruka hesitated, again unsure what to do. On the one hand, Naruto and Sasuke were his former students and he felt some responsibility towards them; on the other they were young men now, and dangerous enough ninja that very few would dare come between them, even when they fought. And they fought a lot.

“Sasuke! Don’t walk away from me!” 

It was a familiar sight, Iruka thought. For more than half his life Naruto had been chasing after Sasuke in one way or another. Even now, when the Uchiha heir was back with a newly-acquired clan in tow, the dynamic didn’t seem to have changed much. Just the scale of potential damage, with both of them fully fledged ninja.

Sasuke didn’t respond, his eyes dark as he kept walking away from Naruto. 

Iruka took a step forward, coming close enough to the fence in time to see Naruto catch up to Sasuke, one hand clenched on the Uchiha’s arm forcing him to turn around. A ridiculously dangerous maneuver with any ninja, and with the unapproachable Uchiha even more so. 

It wasn’t the words, but the heavy feel of Naruto’s chakra that stopped Iruka in his tracks. It was thick in the air, cloying against his skin, carrying enough intent to make his heart pound.

As tall as Iruka, his frame packed with heavy muscle, Naruto looked more dangerous than ever as he loomed over Sasuke.

“I. Will. Not. Stop.” Naruto growled, his chakra gaining the corrosive, almost visible quality that marked him as a bijuu container. The heat of it caused currents in the otherwise still air, making his clothes flutter slightly and wafting Sasuke’s hair away from his face. 

Sasuke showed no sign of fear, though. His face was cold and faintly scornful. It was humbling, almost, how brave (or maybe just suicidal) the boy was. Naruto's confidence could be understood. Between the enormous amounts of chakra granted to him by the Kyuubi and his Uzumaki bloodline, not to mention his regenerative ability, it was nearly impossible to harm him through ordinary means. But Sasuke didn’t have any special healing powers. His chakra stores were very large thanks to centuries of careful breeding in the Uchiha clan, but all in all he was incredibly… breakable in comparison to Naruto. 

Yet he didn’t even flinch when that corrosive chakra reached for him. His own tightly-controlled chakra expanded in response, cold and dark, densely wrapping around his body and protecting him from the invading force. The freezing cold rolling off him made Iruka break out in goosebumps, even at this distance. He had never in his life felt anything this cold, this uncompromisingly  _ alien _ . Even Naruto’s corrosive chakra was more natural, more acceptable. It was full of anger and rage, but those were human emotions. Sasuke's was completely alien, like something that came from the dead of night, something not meant for the living world.

“You can’t get what you want from me,” Sasuke snarled, cold contempt dripping from his voice, body still and pale as if carved from stone. Iruka couldn’t help but think back to that scene from weeks ago, Sasuke pressed against the wall, his eyes half closed as Kakashi kissed him. He hadn't looked soft then, not precisely, but some of his icy cold was gone, shed for that disquieting submission. As embarrassing as it had been to witness intimacy between Kakashi and Iruka’s former student, it was at least human. The unfeeling, impersonal mask Sasuke was presenting Naruto now was uncomfortable to witness, too, but in a completely different way. There was an unnatural stillness to Sasuke, the way he removed himself from the world, that Iruka couldn’t help but mistrust.

Naruto snarled, fierce as the Kyuubi sealed inside him, and surged forward. He moved so fast that for a moment Iruka couldn’t even tell what had happened -- there was a dull thump, and he blinked, and the tableau in front of him had changed. Sasuke was backed against the nearest alley wall, his eyes blazing Sharingan red, and Naruto was nearly on top of him. One of Naruto’s fists was buried an inch deep in the stone wall just a hair's breadth away from Sasuke’s head, cracks spiraling out from the point of impact.

“Don’t tell me what I can and can’t do.” Naruto’s voice was gravelly and rough, powerful, the way Iruka had heard it at times of deadly battle. “I have spilled blood for you.” Naruto leaned closer, the tip of his nose almost touching Sasuke’s. “I have waded through an ocean of blood for you.” Naruto shifted closer. There was something very male, very dominant in the way he stood, legs spread apart, shoulders curved forwards, head lowered like a bull about to charge. His posture screamed battle, aggression, threat. Danger. Iruka was disconcerted; this definitely wasn’t the child he had taught only a few years earlier.

Sasuke tilted his head away from Naruto, but his red, horribly dangerous eyes were locked on the other man till the very last moment. Iruka wondered whether it was stupidity or bravery that kept Naruto looking into the fully mature Sharingan. It was Kyuubi’s only real weakness, a natural susceptibility to the Uchiha bloodline limit.

“Don’t drag me into your delusions.” Sasuke had a way of speaking that made him seem utterly heartless, as cold as his chakra. “I had nothing to do with your obsession.”

“Bullshit.” Naruto answered, his tone surprisingly controlled considering how his chakra suddenly surged, dragging painfully against Iruka’s senses. If it felt so abrasive to him at this distance, it must have been hell for Sasuke, as close as they were. “ _ I know you. _ ” the blond rasped against Sasuke’s cheek, his lips almost brushing the pale skin and his hand still buried in the damaged wall.

Iruka wondered if Naruto had any idea how  _ threatening _ he looked right then. If it had been anyone but Sasuke, Iruka would have felt compelled to intervene; this much focus, this much intent in somebody’s chakra, meant imminent violence.

“You are not only stupid but delusional too, I see.” Sasuke said, his red eyes staring at Naruto, the Sharingan spinning slowly. Iruka was relieved to see that it was still the base form, not the Mangekyou. He couldn’t suppress a shiver at the memory of the split-second he had met Itachi Uchiha’s Mangekyou, and how it had taken away his consciousness and his will for days.

Naruto leaned in, his whole body now pressing against Sasuke, and growled.

“I can  _ see _ you, Sasuke. I can see right  _ through _ you.” This time his lips actually brushed Sasuke’s skin as he spoke, his whole body one long line of tension. Sasuke looked deceptively relaxed for as pinned as he was, his expression cold and unaffected, the only thing betraying his tension the veritable wall of chakra pushing back at Naruto’s own. “I want to bite you.” Naruto’s voice became even rougher, almost harsh. He rubbed his cheek against Sasuke’s. “I want to make you bleed,” he said fiercely. 

A shiver of unease travelled down Iruka's spine. Naruto’s determination to find his friend-slash-rival and bring him home had seemed so honorable when he was twelve. At eighteen, under the full force of hormones, no longer an adorable child with potential but an established ninja, the determination suddenly took on a completely different meaning.

“I want to leave scars on your body.” The jinchuuriki finally pulled his fist free of the wall and put his hand on Sasuke’s neck. Sasuke stayed still as a statue under Naruto’s touch, his face turned away but the eye on Naruto’s side fixed squarely on the Jinchuuriki. “Because I already carry the ones you gave me.” The words were almost gentle, carrying a wealth of emotion Iruka couldn’t even begin to understand. Whatever Naruto felt towards Sasuke, it clearly went far beyond simple friendship, or even infatuation. “I want to fuck you,” Naruto admitted, his lips moving against Sasuke’s cheek. “I want you to fuck me too.”

Sasuke closed his eyes at those last words. Iruka couldn't tell if Sasuke moved voluntarily or if it was Naruto directing him but his head turned enough that Naruto could finally connect his lips with the other man's. There was no hesitation -- he went all in immediately. He held the kiss, demanding not asking, until Sasuke opened up under him. Iruka watched, spellbound, the movements of their jaws, the flash of tongue, the way their bodies complemented each other: Sasuke pale and sinewy, Naruto sun-bronzed and heavy with muscle.

Everything about this was so very different to how Sasuke had been with Kakashi that dark evening in the alley behind the bar. Then, Sasuke was pliant but removed. He had given in to Kakashi’s insistence, let himself be kissed and touched, but very clearly had not been engaging Kakashi on his own. The near submission still felt odd to Iruka, even in retrospect. Sasuke was headstrong and stubborn, suicidally independent. It had been unnatural to see him both malleable and unmoved under Kakashi’s touch. He was an adult though, a ridiculously powerful and dangerous one, and Kakashi had no real power over him, none that Sasuke would acknowledge anyway, and that perhaps was what had made Iruka turn away from the strangeness of what he saw that day.

This, though. This was different.

When Naruto pushed at Sasuke, pressed into the kiss, Sasuke didn’t just give in. He gave back. One of his hands, pale and long fingered, was tangled in Naruto’s hair, pulling hard enough to make Naruto growl and surge into the kiss harder. For a brief moment, during that shockingly brutal kiss, Sasuke seemed alive in a way Iruka hadn’t seen in… maybe never, certainly not since the Uchiha Massacre. There was an intent and a spark to him. It seemed fitting, Iruka thought, that the only person capable of bringing that out in him was the one who never gave up on him.

The kiss went for an endless moment, harsh and biting, a battle of sorts, both young men equally involved, and then suddenly, without warning or provocation, Naruto went flying and the sound of a thousand birds chirping filled the air as arcs of lightning crawled all over Sasuke’s body.

Ikura stared.  _ Chidori Nagashi _ , the full body Chidori that he created from Kakashi’s jutsu. He'd had no idea it could even be deployed without hand seals.

“Bastard.” Naruto groaned, rolling over and picking himself from the ground, his body still twitching randomly. 

Iruka was once hit with a lightning jutsu. It had been nowhere near the level Sasuke had just used, but it still knocked Iruka out for hours. The fact that Naruto was already getting to his feet was only due to his incredible regenerative powers, because Iruka doubted Sasuke would pull his punches for Naruto. Or anyone.

“You don’t understand.” Oddly enough it was Sasuke who looked rattled. His eyes were wide and his face pale, his hands clenched into fists. The Sharingan was spinning in his eyes, only enhancing the wild look.

“You keep saying that, but I  _ do _ ,” Naruto protested.

“You can’t possibly...” Sasuke all but  _ snarled _ at Naruto.

“ _ Itachi _ .”

That one word from Naruto silenced Sasuke immediately, wiping any and all expression from his face like a blow. 

Naruto gazed at Sasuke with a kind of horrible understanding on his face. “I  _ get  _ it. I really  _ get  _ what you feel now,” he said as he pulled himself up, shaking the numbness out of his hands, never breaking eye contact with Sasuke. “I probably get it better than you, Sasuke, just what it means to have him back.”

Sasuke opened his mouth, then closed it, obviously at a loss. “You can’t just…” Sasuke foundered. “Just…”

“What? Accept it?” Naruto looked at Sasuke with eyes full of real understanding. Maybe there was some truth to what Naruto had said. It wasn’t that he was blinded to who and what Sasuke was. It was that he saw so much deeper into the Uchiha than any of them. “Why not? I know who you are. I see how cold you are. How callous and heartless you can get, how hard it is for you to care or express what you feel. I know the violence in your heart, and it _ doesn’t scare me _ .”

Sasuke looked suddenly vulnerable with the surprise so clear on his face, more vulnerable than Iruka had ever seen him, even during his Academy years, all masks now stripped away.

“Why would you go that far?” he said very quietly. “What for?”

Naruto moved towards the Uchiha slowly but didn’t try to touch him this time, maybe understanding how unstable Sasuke was in this moment.

“Because you don’t fear  _ me _ ,” Naruto answered with heartbreaking honesty. “Everybody else has feared me at one time or the other. Most of them still do. Somewhere in their minds I am always the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi. I have a monster sealed inside me, and what if the monster slips his leash?” Naruto's voice was bitter for a moment. “For all the years I have known you, for all the things we’ve done to each other, it never occurred to you, not even  _ once _ , to fear me.”

Iruka felt his heart clench painfully for a moment. As much as it hurt, as much as it shamed him, Naruto was  _ right _ . For whole generations ninja had been taught to fear the bijuu, the power they contained. When Naruto let the true power at his disposal slip, even for a moment, it frightened them. Deep down, perhaps unconsciously, they classified Naruto as a monster, if only for a moment. It was foolish to think Naruto wouldn’t know this. Wouldn’t notice.

Sasuke looked at Naruto as if seeing him for the first time, his eyes full of uncomprehending bewilderment.

“Sasuke…” Naruto started but Sasuke made a sharp noise.

“Don’t talk!” Sasuke pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes. “Enough already…”

“Sasuke.” There was a world of understanding, of gentleness in Naruto’s voice as he reached for his friend's shoulder. Without looking Sasuke twisted away from his touch.

“No! I need to think.”

In a burst of leaves, Sasuke was gone, leaving Naruto alone in the alley.

“Fuck,” was all Naruto said, before sitting on his ass right in the middle of the alley and putting his head in his hands. “Fuck.”

The End.


End file.
